I just saw someone say, "I'm a convert, so I'm technically Jewish," and it made me want to scream and cry.
Converts - adoptees (the term my rabbi uses and I prefer) - you are exactly, precisely, as Jewish as any other Jew. It is halachically forbidden to distinguish between converts and any other Jews. Your soul is a Jewish soul. Period. You're not even supposed to ask if someone's a convert or not. It doesn't matter. You're Jewish.
And if you won't stop minimizing your Jewishness for your own sake, do it for every other convert who deserves not to have their Jewishness minimized or qualified.
Please.
I think about the opening line of leverage a lot
It starts in an airport bar with the bartender telling Nate that the flight starts boarding in 15 minutes.
And then Victor Dubenich arrives
But it never gets mentioned again where Nate was going, and we don’t know of anyone he cares about that he would have to fly to get to. There’s nothing to pull him anywhere, which means that he’s leaving just to go. And look. Nate at the start of this show is so angry, and so helpless, and so alone. He’s just lost his kid and divorced his wife, he’s drunk half to death. He’s is not doing well.
So I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that if Victor Dubenich had arrived 15 minutes late, Nate would’ve gotten on that plane, flown to god knows where, and, by the time someone came looking for him, there probably wouldn’t be anyone to find.
I really, sincerely do think that one of the most interesting topics to think about is the clash of material culture with The Arts. For example: I'm watching a ballet right now, so I'm thinking about the romantic, flowing tutu vs. the stiff material of the pancake tutu. To understand this as more than just a random stylistic choice, you have to understand a hundred years of ballet fashion and general fashion history; the difference between tulle, gossamer, gauze and organza; and also 750 approximate other qualities, from budget to number of dancers to intended aesthetic to what an ignoramus audience member (like me) is going to assume when you show them the two dancers side-by-side.
I love thinking about The Arts as something rare and rarefied, untouchable, but suspect it's largely about budgets. I like thinking about that too.
Pipe expanding machine
people have said it before but if you read a lot of historical literature you do begin to just sort of think in that style of language. I’ll put down the 18th century journal I’m reading and have to resist the urge to send academic emails with every Noun capitalized and punctuated only by the profuse Usage of the Em-Dash — it is a deceptively challenging Instinct to resist, & worse is that Instinct when spelling certain Words to utilize what would, some Centuries prior, be an appropriate Spelling, excepting that my Correspondence occurs in the Twenty-First Century, where Men are inflexible and uncreative in their Methods, & this Propensity of mine would appear only foolish & incorrect, instead of suggesting what it in actuality reflects, which is that I am simply an Incorrigible Nerd — Oh! the Woes of modern Sociability! Why should I be compelled to conform to these d——d modern Conventions! Is it not enough to be unabashedly and impudently Autistic?
snoopy of the day
this is my favorite 'snoopy of the day' i've ever posted
love how much of Aragorn’s initial interactions with the hobbits is just telling them not to say things
aragorn: could you stop casually invoking the dread name of the ancient and terrible evil that even now follows at our very heels for FIVE MINUTES
aragorn: hey I gotta take a breather can you take over the hobbit duties for a bit
gandalf: no worries got you covered
Aragorn’s given up
elrond: hey you can’t say that here
gandalf: you can’t tell me what to say, do I look like a hobbit to you
The film repositions this for comedy, but in Return of the King, there’s this scene:
Gandalf, outside the door: oh hang on, just a sec. for reasons I won’t explain; this is about to get super geopolitical. Try not to spill too many beans in front of Denethor.
Pippin: Do I have that many of them?
Denethor: right, you ignorant child! Under my skilled interrogation I shall force you to spill the beans.
Pippin: I know three things about beans and will share them (under skilled interrogation, discourses for a full hour on beans, the preparation thereof, the cultivation thereof, and the Shire’s various thoughts on beans in general)
Gandalf: (pretends to be annoyed) denethor if you wanted SENSIBLE discourse on geopolitical beans I am RIGHT HERE
Denethor, fascinated: no! I already know everything you’re about to say and I’m NOT accepting criticism at this time. And I genuinely have no idea what this guy’s going to say next - do you have ANY idea how fun that is for me
Pippin: now the classic market share of baked beans inna tin belongs to Heinz, but I myself am a Branston man, because - referencing my previous statements - if you want beans, you do NOT need to faff about with a tin opener. The decision to retain the pop-top -
Gandalf: this is unbelievable. denethor, can we -
Denethor: BZT! ✋ let him cook
(Later)
Pippin: are you mad at me for talking about beans for an hour
Gandalf: it was, in a weird way, the best move on the chessboard, and so politically savvy that it furthered three of my agendas, and was also really funny to listen to. Denethor has the long sight; he is accustomed to reading the minds and hearts of men at a long distance, these long years. Actually, maybe this has jaded him as much as anything else. To meet a mind whose umwelt, whose very nature, he has not already fully plumbed is not just an act of political obfuscation on our part; for Denethor himself, could such fresh provocation burst his stagnant social bubble, and save him from being so terminally fucking online? Might we have uncovered the potential of a Theoden thematic parallel? Much to ponder. The only unfortunate bit was that you kept freezing up and looking guilty when Denethor asked you about containers
Pippin: you said not to spill any beans and I was worried he’d trip me up
Gandalf: it is, as ever, like talking to a fucking genie with you people
Hello, guys. I know I haven't been active in this blog for some time, but I guess I just needed to write about this and I'm not sure where else to do it.
As some of you know, I live in Venezuela. For the last hour or so bombs have been falling over my city, Caracas. Some people say it's a coup d'etat, others that it's the US military. We are not yet sure what is happening.
A bomb fell over La Carlota, a military air base a few blocks away from my apartment. We can still see the smoke through the window. As I understand, bombs have also fallen on "strategic places" like Fuerte Tiuna and Miraflores.
The neighbors are speaking about leaving but me and my parents haven't decided what we are going to do. We don't really have a place to go. I'll keep you updated if I can. Thank you for taking the time to read.
